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lohe PAN AME:RICAN UNION 

JOHN BARRETT : : Director General 
FRANCISCO J. YANES : Assistant Director 



Through the Marvelous Highlands 
of Guatemala 



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Reprinted from the October, 1917, issue of 
the Bulletin of the Pan American Union 



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WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1917 



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FAR upon the horizon towered the twin volcanoes of Atitlan, 
their dark flanks wTeathed in vast white masses of cloud- 
hke sparkhng fields of snow. The cones, thousands of feet 
above, stood out sharply against the deep blue vault of the 
tropic skies. For five days we had been riding to them through the 
enchanted highlands of Guatemala, a marvelous land of fragrant 
pine forests, floAvers, singing birds, broad winding roads, and fer- 
tile fields of wheat and corn cultivated by hundreds of thousands of 
industrious Indians. And many pueblos we had passed, lying on the 
rolling bosom of the cool table-lands with their schools and temples 
to Minerva, goddess of wisdom, and their white mission buildings 
and churches from whose thick-w^alled towers the pealing bells sum- 
moned the devout Indians to prayer. Almost without sensing a 
change of scene we had plunged into the quiet depths of a giant 
forest, dark after the brilliance of the tropical sun, where mighty 
trees rose as the stately pillars of a cathedral, to find upon emerging 
that a turn of the road brought into view a panorama of 200 miles 
of magnificent mountain country, forests, plains, the silver glint of 
lakes and streams, and volcanic cones 2 miles high enshrouded in 
turbans of fog. 

Such is Guatemala,_land of majestic contrasts, of unwonted, almost 
appalling surprises. Here is one of the splendid show places of the 
world. Far from the beaten path of most tourists its wonders are 
becoming better known. n grandeur it will compare with Switzer- 
land, the Canadian Eockies, the Grand Canyon of Arizona, and its 
panorama is laid upon as vast a scale. Yet the tropic higlilands 
have an individuality all their own, of lights, and shades, and fleeting 
colors, of luxuriant masses of vegetation, of inspiring and prodigious 
formations of the land. 

Below lay cities with their public squares and white churches, fields 
of yellow grain like golden patches of light in the crystal-clear atmos- 
phere of the highlands, huge dark masses of forest, and beyond, 
■extending their thousands of spurs and flanks, rose the prodigious 
Cordilleras. To the left the peaks of Atitlan towered to the heavens, 

' By Hamilton M. Wright, author of A Handboolc of the Philippines. 
2 



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4 THROUGH THE MARVELOUS HIGHLANDS OF GUATEMALA. 

, majestic, symmetrical, recalling in their perfect contour the famed 
Fugiyama of Japan. 

It was more than a half day's ride from this point before we came 
to Godines Crest and beheld, 3,000 feet below us, the deep blue 
waters of Lake Atitlan, and on its opposite shores, rising sheer a 
mi'e to a mile and one-half above the surface of the lake, seven great 
volcanoes, of which the two known as Atitlan are the most wonderful. 
Lake Atitlan, itself a vast crater lake 27 miles in greatest length and 12 
miles wide, is a remarkable body of water. The Rev. Father Garcia, 
of Naguala, a graduate of the University of Rome, and one who has 
given enthusiastic study to the meteorology of the region, informed 
me that ofhcial soundings of this lake gave an extreme depth of more 

I than 1,000 feet. Its surface is 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. 
Its waters teem with trout with which it has been stocked and, while 
walking upon its sandy beach near Panajachel, we saw great schools 
of smaller fish and not a few of the larger. Into its shores plunge 
the volcanic hills, often in precipitous, forested hogbacks, often in 
steeply sloping wheat fields, or again ending in miie-high cliffs of 
bright red sandstone or perpendicular walls marked by the slate 
grays and pin-plish hues of volcanic ash. Such are the walls of Lake 
Atitlan, often called Lake Panajachel, painted by nature in her most 
glorious, riotous colors, and rivaling even the famed hues of the 
Grand Canyon of Arizona. From the shores of the lake, as we first 
looked down upon it, arose great clouds of steam as if the beach were 
saturated with boihng water. But, in this case, it was merely the 
afternoon sun beating upon the wet sands, for the waters of Atitlan 
are cool and crystal clear. Billows of mist, too, arose from the 
surface of the lake, only to be caught and dissipated by the sudden 
squalls that come almost vertically from the mountain passes, and 
always there were rainbows to be seen in the ascending mists. 
Whether one looked a half mile down upon the mirrored surface of 
the lake or whether he gazed at the volcanoes towering a mile above 
and wreathed in their streaming feather bows of shifting vapors, he 
felt as though great phenomena of nature were being staged for his 
benefit. 

Some splendid roads have been built in the neighborhood of the 
lake. One of them, broad and sweeping, leads from Panajachel on 
the southeast shores of Atitlan to the picturesque pueblo of Solala, 
which is perched on mountain bluffs thousands of feet above. The 
road is blasted from rocky cliffs and its sides and walls are, hterally, 
of granite. It is a remarkable piece of construction accompUshed 
by one of the generals of President Cabrera's army. So steep is the 
road that cascades fall at its very edge and their waters are borne 
beneath it by culverts. As it skirts the gigantic bluffs, the traveler 
obtains entrancing visions of the lake and of the many villages upon 
its shores. 



THROUGH THE MARVELOUS HIGHLANDS OF GUATEMALA. 




A CASCADE NEAR LAKE ATITLAN, 
GUATEMALA. 

"Some splendid roads have been built in the 
neighborhood of the lake. One of them, 
broad and sweeping, leads from Panajachel 
on the southeast shore of Atitlan to the 
picturesque pueblo of Solala, which is 
perched on mountain bluffs thousands of 

• feet below. * * * So steep is the road 
that cascades fall at its very edge, and their 
waters are borne beneath it bv culverts." 



We started on this journey, myself 
and my compadre, a genial old mule- 
teer, from Guatemala City, the capital 
of the Republic. It is, itself, a city of 
the highlands with an altitude of 4,800 
feet above sea level, a thoroughh^ 
modern city with excellent hotels 
and clul)s and every convenience for 
tlie tourist and traveler. The popula- 
tion of the city is about 125,000 and 
with its well-paved streets, fine sliops, 
;! I tractive churches, public edifices, 
and educational institutions it af- 
fords a thousand pleasant diversions. 
At 7 o'clock of a cool bright morning 
we clattered over the broad flagstone 
pavements of the city, the writer on 
a stout mule and his companion on 
a wiry little mountain horse. Cur 
objective for the first day was An- 
tigua, the former capital of the Re- 
public, which lies as a modern Pom- 
peii at the brim of the twin volca- 
noes, Agua and Fuego. The journey,- 
30 miles, is also made by automobile 
and diligencia or stage. In fact, the 
roads in the dry season will permit 
automobiles to travel about 50 miles 
farther north, but as we contem- 
plated traversing some very rough 
country we preferred to cling to our 
mounts. The ride to Antigua, though 
a short one, is filled with interest and 
novelty. In the earh^ morning one 
passes an ahnost endless procession 
of oxcarts and picturesquely dressed 
Indians coming into market. At 
Mixco, about 9 nnles out, is to be 
seen the old conduit of flat flagstones 
built many years ago to supply Gua- 
temala City with water. The con- 
duit was still delivering water, and its 
method of construction suggested that 
of the old Roman aqueducts. At 
Mixco one obtains an excellent view 







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8 THROUGH THE MARVELOUS HIGHLANDS OF GUATEMALA. 

of Guatemala City, which lies upon an elevated plahi on the Atlantic 
side (jf the Continental Divide and which has the characteristic dignity 
and stateliness of the larger Latin American capitals, due, no doubt, 
to the careful city planning and to the ornate architectural forms 
employed. 

At Mixco we leave the stage road, plunge by a short cut into the 
hills and by 1 o'clock are in Antigua. It has been said of Antigua 
that it possesses the most extensive ruins to be found in any one spot 
in the world. The city was founded by the warrior Alvarado, w^ho 
w^as sent south from Mexico about 1541. It was destroyed b^ an 
earthquake on July 29, 1773. Although some of its ruined churches 
have been reconstructed, for the most part the restored city embraces 
the old ruins wliich have changed but little in appearance in the last 
100 years. The giant arches still remain and the mighty walls give 
a hint of past glories. At the time of its destruction Antigua was 
the center of the political, economic, and ecclesiastical administration 
in Central America. Fifty-eight huge edifices, including the cathedral, 
the governor general's palace, and many handsome churches and their 
dependent monasteries were laid w^aste. To my mind the most beau- 
tiful ruin is that of the Church of the Recoleccion, which I w-as at 
pains to photograph. Although much of the debris has for genera- 
tions been covered wdth trailing vines and picturesque shrubs, these 
but serve to accentuate the majesty of the great pillars and arches 
which appear capable of enduring for centuries. Of amazing interest, 
to the writer at least, wns the fact that the pigments used in the 
decorations of the w^alls and the inner arches of the church were as 
bright and fresh as if the colors had been applied but yesterday. 
Venetian red and cerulean blue aj^peared in attractive mosaics and 
designs. These are probably outer decorations w^hich led to murals 
of religious subjects on the ceilings of the central vaults or na^es. 

The volcano Agua tow^ers almost directly above the city of Antigua, 
at least so it seems, for the gradient is very steep, but a high ridge 
leads down the southern side of the mountain by which the ascent 
is easily made by muleback in a few" hours. It is quite customary 
to ascend the volcano, which has an elevation of 11,000 feet, to see 
the sun rise. If the morning is a clear one, Guatemala City, Lake 
Amatitlan, 15 miles south of Guatemala City, and even the Pacific 
Ocean may be discerned. Ice forms near the summit of the peak 
and, as there are many hot springs, one ma}', as it were, turn the 
faucet of old Mother Earth for both hot and cold water. There are 
several good inns and Jiotels in Antigua, with corrals in connection 
w^here one may put up his horses. At the inn at which the writer 
stopped there were a gentleman and his wife from Valparaiso, a 
family from Cuba, and two ladies and their brother from Boston. 
Thus, it may be seen, Antigua is rather cosmopolitan in its appeal. 





TWO VIEWS OF LAKE ATITLAN, GUATEMALA. 

Lake Atitlan is a vast crater lake 27 miles in greatest length and 12 miles wide. Its surface is 5,000 
feet above the level of the sea. " From the shores of the lake, as we first looked down upon it, arose 
great clouds of steam, as if the beach were saturated with boiling water. But, in this case, it was 
merely the afternoon sun beating upon the wet sands, for the waters of Atitlan are cool and crystal 
clear. Billows of mist, too, arose from the surface of the lake, only to be caught and dissipated 
hj the sudden squalls that come almost vertically from the mountain passes, and always there are 
rainbows to be seen in the ascending mists.'' 



10 THROUGH THE MARVELOUS HIGHLANDS OF GUATEMALA. 

During our brief stay there we had the finest of strawberries for the 
table, also sweet corn, beets, lettuce, and artichokes. Inquiry 
revealed that almost every fruit and vegetable known to the temperate 
zone can be grown in the Guatemalan highlands. We passed some 
unusually fine peach trees at Totonicipan later in our travels. The 
flowers, too, were lovely, roses, hollyhocks, and crysanthemums being- 
cultivated in the public plaza at Antigua. 

Leading out of Antigua one passes on broad shady roads, sometimes 
through narrow ravines, again crossing meadows with running brooks 
and now mounting upward througli forests of pine until the plateaus 
are reached, great broad table-lands bordered by distant mountain 
ranges whose lofty volcanic peaks stand out boldly against the sky. 

All the highhind country is densely populated; at least all that por- 
tion which lies between Guatemala City and Quetzaltenango, the sec- 
ond city of the Republic. The mountains are intensively cultivated 
up to a height of almost 10,000 feet. Fine schools have been 
built in the pueblos and cities under direction of President Estrada 
Cabrera. The President, who is a patron of all the arts, has vigor- 
ously pushed the manual training and technical schools. They are to 
be found throughout the settled portions of the Republic. Education 
is compulsory. Electric lights and pure water piping are installed in 
all communities of any size. The telegraph system is admirable; I 
sent 10 words 180 miles for 7 cents (American currency), a much 
lower rate than prevails in the United States or most other countries. 
The telegraph, educational, postal, and mining laws were personally 
formulated by President Cabrera, who is a jurist of extraordinary 
attainments. The police system is excellent. I have never seen an 
intoxicated person in the Republi\ One can travel in any portion 
of it unarmed. Concrete has worked wonders. Every community 
has its public concrete washing place where the women may wash 
their clothes and to which water is often piped a great distance. 

The people ol the highlands, except in the larger towns, are mostly 
Indians, who are believed to be descended partly or wholly from the 
ancient Mayas. I had read that the faces upon the existing obelisks 
and monuments often bore a.striking resemblance to the countenances 
of the Indians of to-day. The statement I found verified in the monu- 
ments at Quirigua. Of all the prehistoric races of the American 
hemisphere the Mayas were among the most advanced. They had 
progressed so far in mechanics that they were able to move rocks 
weighing 20 tons or more over great distances. They possessed a 
considerable amount of written lore, and represented sounds in their 
hieroglyphics. Their carvings of human beings or animals had been 
developed beyond the profile stage of the Egyptians. We found that 
many of the Indians we met upon the road had but a limited knowl- 
edge of Spanish. Father Garcia, of Naguala, is authority for the 
statement that there are now 27 difi^erent dialects spoken among 




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12 THROUGH THE MARVELOUS HIGHLANDS OF GUATEMALA. 

the^e people. The Rev. Father Rossbach, of Totonicipan, has 
40,000 Indians in his parish. He did not ]mow, he said, of a more 
devout or moral race. They are, too, a picturesque people, ihe 
men with their loose, open-sleeve Jackets, plaid skirts, sturdy bare 
le-s and flat straw hats of home weave, strangely resemble the 
natives of northern Japan. The women lend a touch of vivid color 
to every country side. They wear richly hued guipils, home-woven 
waists of purple cloth, embeUished with red and gold patterns and 
with sashes extending from the waist to below the knees, wound 
somewhat tightly yet permitting freedom of the limbs. 

The o-ray dawn each morning found us started on our way, the air 
was cool and bracing and one could make from 35 to 40 miles a day 
without discomfort (we made more than this at times) and with 
several hours to spare in leisure at the roadside or m the villages. 
Between Pazum and Panajachel we came to a profound barranca or 
chasm in the earth, where the ground at the roadside feU away m 
precipitous walls 800 feet in depth. As one looked down from the 
level surface of the plains the tallest pines at the bottom ol the 
chasm seemed but pigmies. This was the head of a great valley 
which stretched straight ahead for a score of miles. Ihere are a 
number of such barrancas in Guatemala, some of which have no 
visible outlet above the ground. While I was photograp nng one 
of these crevasses at its apex a huge piece of ground 40 feet long 
and several feet wide broke from the opposite side, not more than 
100 feet away, and went thundering down to the bottom. 

Totonicipan, in the northwest part of the Repubhc, which we 
reached from the Peten region, hes at an altitude of 8,300 eet above 
sea level Around it on all sides but the west rise the walls ol great 
hills It is a well-paved city of 18,000 population with attractive 
shops and fine churches and pubhc buildings. AU about are vege- 
table gardens, grain fields, and numerous orchards. Were it not loi 
the lofty mountains near by, the North American here might fancy 
himself m the central part of New York State. r. . i 

From Totonicipan a fine road leads west for 15 miles to Quetzal- 
tenan^o, the second largest city m Guatemala, distinguished by its 
imposing public edifices, beautiful plaza, and fine business struc- 
tures There are six good hotels m Quetzaltenango and, although 
the city is 35 miles from the railroad at San Felipe, they enjoy a 

brisk patronage. . i • i ^f +Lo 

The stage road to San Fehpe is one of the scemc highways of the 
world In 35 miles it drops more than 1 mile and skirts the .anks 
of Mount Santa Maria, one of the most picturesque ol the Central 
American volcanoes. More than this: In a few brief hours it plunges 
from the pine-clad temperate zone into tropical jungles ol a luxuri- 
ance that baffles description. Here is a f oreworld. Prodigious hard- 
woods with branches rising from clear boles 80 to 100 feet above the 



14 THROUGH THE MARVELOUS HIGHLANDS OF GUATEMALA. 

earth are hung with giant creepers hke enormous serpents. Clusters 
of orchids chng to the branches or crevices of trees or hang suspended 
from traihng vines. Skeins of gray moss beard the trees. Tree 
ferns, giant pahns, and exotic flowers are features of a jungle which, 
at times, one can only penetrate with a machete. In a few hours by 
the auto stage the traveler has plunged into a different world. 

Santa Maria has been the most formidable of the Central American 
volcanoes. In 1902 an eruption blew a strip of earth said to exceed 
a mile in length from its side. The ash dust from the volcano is 
said to have been perceived as far north as the City of Mexico and 
as far south as Colombia. Ashes fell in some places at Pacific coast 
points to a depth of 6 or more inches. Yet despite the intensity of 
the upheaval the loss of life was not as serious as was reported and 
was confined principally to Santa Maria, although portions of 
Quetzaltenango were damaged. 

No one who visits Guatemala should miss seeing Lake Amatitlan, 
which is much more accessible than Atitlan, although the latter 
can be reached by a 35-mile ride from the raikoad if one approaches 
it from the south. Lake Amatitlan, however, is reached in three- 
quarters of an hour by train from Guatemala City, the railroad 
skirting its shores for about 6 miles and, at one point, passing over 
a narrow escarpment which divides the lake in two parts. Along its 
shores are many hot springs, and the lake is well stocked with small 
fish. It is rumored the lake possesses a subterranean outlet which 
causes a vortex where luckless fishermen have perished. Good roads 
and trails extend around the north borders of Lake Amatitlan. I 
recall a charming Sunday spent in traversing some of them and in 
walking into the fertile back country, where the fine roads are bor- 
dered by stately cypress or by eucalyptus trees, and white-walled 
adobe houses are set off by morning-glories and thickets of bamboo. 
Lake Amatitlan has long been a popular watering place; centuries 
ago the Guatemalans visited its hospitable shores in winter to escape 
the chiU winds of the higher plateaus. From Amatitlan good roads 
run to Escuintla in the first foothills near the Pacific. Also Lake 
Amatitlan offers a wonderful foreground for the volcano Agua, that 
coUossal pyramidal cone whose exquisite proportions are easily recog- 
nized from whatever point of the compass one views it. 

Wonderful Guatemala, with its sky-piercing peaks, its purple 
mists, its vast forests, great lakes, cool uplands, and cities in the 
fine architecture of the Spanish renaissance, will well repay the 
tourist from whatever land. It is easily reached by the fine steamers 
of the United Fruit Co., from either New York or New Orleans and 
is traversed by 500 miles of modern railway. 

At last my trip was over. I parted from my brave compadre of 
the winding trail in the highlands, said good-by to my new-found 
friends, and sailed from Puerto Barrios. But I shall go again. 



.4.or(HKi ui- UUNbRESS 




015 842 043 



THE PAN AMERICAN UNIONS is the inter- 
national organization and office maintained 
in Washington, D, C, by the twenty-one 
American republics, as follows: Argentina, Bolivia, 
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Domini- 
can Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Hon- 
duras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, 
Salvador, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela. 
It is devoted to the development and advancement 
of commerce, friendly intercourse, and good under- 
standing among these countries. It is supported 
by quotas contributed by each country, based upon 
the population. Its affairs are administered by a 
Director General and Assistant Director, elected 
by and responsible to a Governing Board, which is 
composed of the Secretary of State of the United 
States and the diplomatic representatives in Wash- 
ington of the other American governments. These 
two executive officers are assisted by a staff of 
international experts, statisticians, commercial 
specialists, editors, translators, compilers, libra- 
rians, clerks and stenographers. The Union pub- 
lishes a Monthly Bulletin in English, Spanish, 
Portuguese and French, which is a careful record 
of Pan American progress. It also publishes 
numerous special reports and pamphlets on various 
subjects of practical information. Its library, the 
Columbus Memorial Library, contains, 36,000 vol- 
umes, 18,000 photographs, 132,000 index cards, and 
a large collection of maps. The Union is housed in 
a beautiful building erected through the munifi- 
cence of Andrew Carnegie. 



16 



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